Basketball Game Preview: Franklin County Rebels vs. Tullahoma Wildcats

The Franklin County Rebels will venture away from home to face off against the Tullahoma Wildcats at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Franklin County has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the game with three straight defeats, while Tullahoma will come in with five straight wins.

Franklin County is headed into the contest out to prove that what happened against Cannon County on Saturday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Franklin County had to suffer through a 71-41 loss at the hands of Cannon County. While losing is never fun, the Rebels can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Tennessee basketball rankings (they are ranked 330th, while the Lions are ranked 127th).

Meanwhile, Tullahoma hadn't done well against Lawrence County recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. Tullahoma secured a 63-57 W over Lawrence County.

Franklin County better keep an eye on Khani Johnson. He was instrumental in Tullahoma's win, going 8 for 16 en route to 23 points and eight boards. The dominant performance gave Johnson a new career-high in rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Xavier Farrell, who posted 21 points along with six boards and three steals.

Tullahoma smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in three consecutive matchups.

Tullahoma's victory was their 11th straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 23-3. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.8 points over those games. As for Franklin County, their loss dropped their record down to 4-21.

Franklin County took a serious blow against Tullahoma in their previous meeting back in January, falling 65-37. That game was all but decided by halftime, at which point Franklin County was down 34-11.